USPTO Patents Application 10786988

DEC-22-2Q05 THU 12:22 PM EXXONMOBIL

FAX NO. 281 834 7413

P.

Appl.No> 10786,988

Atty. Docket: 2004B010

Amendment dated December 22, 2005

Reply to Office Action mailed October 5, 2005

REMARKS/ARGUMENTS

Status and Request for Reconsideration

Reconsideration of this application is requested. The claims submitted for
reconsideration are claims 9-15 and 17-34.

Claim 9 has been amended to include the subject matter of now canceled claims 10 and
14. Claim 17 has been amended to include the subject matter of now canceled claims 20 and 24.
Claim 26 has been amended to include the subject matter of now canceled claims 28 and 32.

Claim 34 is newly added. The subject matter of that claim is consistent with a preferred
embodiment of the invention described at paragraph [001 6].

Claims 1 1, 21 , and 28 have been amended to correct claim dependency. Accordingly, no
new matter has been entered by way of this amendment.

Claim Rejection - 35 U.S.C § 1 12

Claims 9-1 5 and 17-33 were rejected under 35 U.S.C § 1 12, second paragraph, for being
indefinite. This rejection is traversed and reconsideration requested.

The term "intermediate grade propylene stream" was considered to be unclear.
Applicants note however that the particular phrase is generally defined at paragraph 0017 of the
specification. Applicants have amended the claims consistent with the specification, and believe
the claims to have sufficient clarity such that the rejection should be removed.

Claim Rejections - 35 U.S.C § 103

Claims 1-8 have been rejected under 35 U.S.C § 103(a) as being unpatentable over U.S.
Patent No. 6,660,812 (Keuchler). Those claims having been canceled by this amendment, this
rejection is now moot.

Allowability of Claims

Claims 9-15 and 17-33 were indicated as being allowable if amended to overcome the
rejection under 35 U.S.C § 112, second paragraph. Upon entTy of this amendment, those claims
should now be allowed. Since new claim 34 depends from each of die allowable independent
claims in the alternative, that claim should also be allowed.

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DEC-22-2005 THU 12:23 PM EXXONMOBIL

FAX NO. 281 834 7413

P.

Appl.No. 10786,988

Atty. Docket: 2004B010

Amendment dated December 22, 2005

Reply to Office Action mailed October 5, 2005

CONCLUSION

Having demonstrated that all rejections of claims have been overcome, this application is
in condition for allowance. Accordingly, Applicants request early and favorable reconsideration
in the form of a Notice of Allowance.

If there are any questions regarding this amendment or the application in general, a
telephone call to the undersigned would be appreciated, since this should expedite the
prosecution of the application for all concerned.

If necessary to effect a timely response, this paper should be considered as a petition for
an Extension of Time sufficient to effect a timely response. Please charge any deficiency in fees
or credit any overpayments to Deposit Account No. 05-1 71 2 (Docket #: 2004B010).

Post Office Address (to which correspondence is to be sent):

ExxonMobil Chemical Company

Law Technology

P.O. Box 2149

Baytown, Texas 77522-2149

Telephone No. (281) 834-1743

Facsimile No. (281)834-2495

Respectfully submitted,

Frank E. Reid
Attorney for Applicants
Registration No. 37,918

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